Plenty of podiums for Dromara CC at CX

It was the first round of the Ulster Cyclo-cross league hosted by Apollo CC at Lurgan Park. It was certainly a testing time for the course setters. There was a clearly much debate from the competitors about how muddy it was going to be and if they would have enough wet weather gear. As I turned out the sun would appear and the rain would disappear leaving Lurgan Park looking beautifully tranquil.

The first race up was the under 6 race with Fiadh Kellett, Hugh and Conor Hetherington flying the flag for Dromara CC and more importantly loving the mud. Great to see them enjoying it.

The Under 8’s boys race would see young Oscar McBride loving the mud as he battled through the crown to claim 8^th place in a very competitive race.

Aoife Kellett was in a tough Under 10 girls race that would see her put in a tremendous effort to claim 3^rd place with 2^nd place not very far away. A great start to her league campaign and pressure on dad to produce in his race.

James Armstrong has had a great summer of cycling and has taken this rich vein of form into the cyclo-cross. Curtis Mckee from Maryland Wheelers would keep James from the top spot of the podium but only by a mere 6 seconds.

With Junior DCC having set the scene at the cyclocross it was time for the senior team get on their bikes. In the MTB Support race Mick Foley fresh back from injury and claiming to be unfit tore through the mud to claim a top 10 finish leaving expectations that he can only get better and better.

The Dromara CC had a large representation in the B race which saw 10 riders competing. It didn’t last long for Gibson Chambers as he got caught up in a crash at the start. This left Paul Hamilton taking the honor of first Dromara man home in 6^th not far behind was Richard Cowan in 7^th, Brian Kellett managed to take 12^th and hold off Darren McCann…just. Adi Booth would take the bragging rights as h finished ahead of Bryce Hetherington and Mike Barton finishing 41^st, 43^rd and 46^th respectively. Robert Davison finished in 67^th with John McGuigan taking 74^th.

The Dromara Ladies had a full team out and it would be Diane Wilson on her comeback to the bike that would be the first Dromara Lady home in 5^th with Martina Hawkins finishing closely behind in 7^th. Andra Hamilton was enjoying the course and claimed a battling 14^th place.

The final race of the day was the Mens A race which would see Barry Kellett, Neil Armstrong and Derek Graham take to the start line.  Barry Kellett would show that moving the M40 category certainly hasn’t slowed him down as he would battle with his younger rival Graham Boyd from McConvey Cycles for the top spot. This time it was Graham who would hold on to take the win but an excellent 2^nd place and top M40 for Barry. Neil Armstrong would claim 34^th just ahead of Derek Graham in 36^th. When the scores where totaled up it would leave Dromara CC taking the third team.

Many thanks go to Apollo CC for putting on a tremendous event considering the awful weather through the week. Also thanks to Belgium Project an Toby Watson for the photos. Next week round 2 will see the racers heading to Necarne in County Fermanagh. See you there. Full results are here